Golnesa Gharachedaghi is in the midst of a battle against Rheumatoid Arthritis and as the fifth season of Shahs of Sunset continues, she's opening up about the illness.

Although fans have seen Gharachedaghi speaking of her illness on the Bravo reality show, she went into further detail about her struggles just days ago.

"It's very confusing when you've never heard of a disease before and all of a sudden you're supposed to in one second accept that you have it," Gharachedaghi told PEOPLE Magazine on Wednesday. "I can't lift things the way a 35-year-old should be lifting things. I can't hold my phone for long periods of times without my hands going numb or shaking. I can't sit in the car for too long."

"You're tired all the time," she added. "It doesn't matter how much you sleep – you're always tired."

After being diagnosed with the illness years ago, Gharachedaghi said she was "in denial" about the disease and its required treatment. Then, in 2015, she decided to bite the bullet and begin chemotherapy.

"I wasn't mentally ready for it," she admitted. "I turned to the bottle for pain and mental management. I was drinking a lot. And when I say 'a lot,' I mean I was literally waking up in the morning and downing a bottle of vodka ... I just wanted to numb out."

"I would just drink and drink until I couldn't feel my body," she revealed. "Because you know, when we drink, it's like we can do anything – we're invincible. So I was dancing on tables and then I would wake up the next day and not be able to walk for the whole day. But those moments felt so good to me when I was in them that the following day didn't matter. I just wanted to feel that numbness again."

After struggling with drug abuse for years after getting sober 11 years ago, Gharachedaghi began to see a "very scary" pattern and ultimately entered a retreat.

"It became obvious that it was a problem," she said. "I just wanted to be able to cope without using alcohol."

For more Golnesa Gharachedaghi, tune into Shahs of Sunset season five on Sundays at 9 p.m. on Bravo and check out a sneak peek at this week's new episode below.

Tags: Golnesa Gharachedaghi shahs of sunset Reality TV Bravo